The ordinance would make marijuana possession -- except as permitted under Michigan's medical marijuana law -- a misdemeanor enforceable by an appearance ticket.

Kalamazoo currently does not prosecute marijuana use or possession as an offense under city ordinance. As a statutory offense under state law, it is a misdemeanor that carries with it a penalty of one year imprisonment or a $2,000 fine, or both. If the ordinance is passed by the city commission, offenders would serve 93 days in jail or pay a $100 fine, or do both.

Kalamazoo City Attorney Clyde Robinson wrote in a memo to city commissioners that enforcing the statutory offense requires an inordinate amount of Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety resources to catalogue and test marijuana held as evidence. The KDPS believes enforcing marijuana possession as an ordinance with a lower penalty and issuing an appearance ticket instead of making an arrest would be a better use of law enforcement resources, he has said.

The ordinance notes a city charter amendment passed last November which makes possession by someone 21 years or older of one ounce or less of marijuana the lowest priority for law enforcement.
The city of Portage has enforced a similar ordinance since 1992, and this year the City of Chicago adopted an ordinance making possession of 15 grams or less of marijuana enforceable through a citation instead of an arrest.

What do you think? Should the Kalamazoo City Commission adopt an ordinance that would lower fines for marijuana possession and make it enforceable by a ticket instead of an arrest?&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://polldaddy.com/poll/6573170/"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Should marijuana possession in Kalamazoo be enforced by a ticket instead of an arrest? (Poll)&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;

Emily Monacelli is a government and taxes reporter for the Kalamazoo Gazette. Contact her at emonacel@mlive.com. Follow her on Twitter.